Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
John Barker has been volunteering with the West Vancouver Streamkeeper Society for more than 20 years and says he's never seen anything like it, dozens of coho salmon, pre-spawn and silvery, looking fresh from the sea, dead at the mouth of Brothers Creek. "When you have a loss like this, it's devastating,'' said Barker.
Lynn Kriwoken dips a black rod into the deep waters of Alta Lake next to Whistler, B.C., about 157 kilometres north of Vancouver, and a bunch of different numbers start rapidly moving on her monitor. Depth, oxygen levels, turbidity and much more appear on the screen — metrics that measure the relative health of the water in the moment, and when done regularly enough, reflects the health of the lake over time.
Pulling a large truck tire from the water, volunteer Derek Evans says he is not sure how long it has been at the bottom of Lake Ontario. It’s filled with zebra mussels and mud, but the rubber has the potential to be a serious issue. "This is at least 50 pounds," Evans says. "It definitely would be a lot of damage to the fish and the wildlife in the water." Getting this tire, and other garbage, is part of a massive project called, 'Kingston Waters Clean Up.' More than 70 divers, kayakers and shorelines volunteers are bagging up garbage to keep it out of the water and drawing awareness to the issue, explains organizer Guillaume Courcy.
Volunteers help restore the banks of the creek using live staking, a process of cutting new growth from mature trees and planting those pieces into the ground. The cuttings, called live stakes, eventually will grow into new trees and create a root network to prevent soil loss. Think of it like a house plant, Samuels said. “If you take a cutting from the plant and stick it in water, eventually it will grow roots. That’s kind of what we’re doing with live stakes but it is actually happening all along the watercourse,” he said.
A group of Chilliwack volunteers braved chilly temperatures to haul away several truckloads of garbage Sunday. Tarps, bike parts, furniture and clothes were dragged up a steep incline from a homeless camp under the Vedder River bridge on Swetzer Creek. It was the second volunteer cleanup at the site conducted by stewards and nature lovers. The camp saw a fire break out last weekend in one of the tarped structures, which postponed the cleanup until Jan. 29.
Throughout the warmer months, Alberta's irrigation networks play a crucial role in the province. They transfer water from rivers and reservoirs, delivering it to rural communities, to farmers and to recreational areas, supporting some wildlife along the way. But along with the water comes the fish. And in the fall, when the irrigation networks shut down, thousands of them become stranded. "It's absolutely a recurring problem," said Lesley Peterson, a Calgary biologist with Trout Unlimited Canada.
Volunteers and scientists are in the midst of a six-day "bio blitz" in Vancouver's False Creek, collecting water samples as an initial step toward cleaning up the inlet between Science World and English Bay. The project, running until Wednesday, is a collaboration between local non-profit False Creek Friends, scientists from the Hakai Institute coastal research centre, and the City of Vancouver.
Volunteers with a local charity were busy handing out water to vulnerable Edmontonians as the city was placed under a heat warning. On Saturday afternoon, Environment and Climate Change Canada placed the capital region under a heat warning as high daytime temperatures and overnight lows were expected throughout the long weekend. Volunteers with a local charity were busy handing out water to vulnerable Edmontonians as the city was placed under a heat warning.
On Saturday afternoon, Environment and Climate Change Canada placed the capital region under a heat warning as high daytime temperatures and overnight lows were expected throughout the long weekend. Heat warnings are issued by Environment Canada when very high temperatures can pose an elevated risk of heat illnesses, like heat stroke or heat exhaustion.
Dozens of volunteers cleaned up several Vancouver beaches Sunday morning after they were left littered with cans, bottles and garbage overnight. Beaches in Vancouver's Kitsilano neighbourhood and at English Bay, which are typically kept clean even during peak season, were both left with unusual amounts of trash on the hottest weekend of summer weather thus far. Locals who volunteered to clean up the mess said they were upset about all the trash. "I'm really disappointed to see it to be honest," said Kassandra Sison as she picked up litter at English Bay. "We're probably going to get at least half a dozen [garbage bags] if not a full dozen if we keep going."
If you have a camera and a thermometer you can help contribute to lake stewardship in Canada. Canada has experienced heatwaves, droughts and wildfires which have also taken a toll on the two million lakes in our country. Living Lakes Canada is recruiting volunteers who are able to track the impacts of climate change on our lakes. In order to get the most accurate information the data needs to be collected over multiple years, and many of the two million lakes in Canada aren't monitored. That's where you come in. Living Lakes Canada is asking people to sign up to monitor their favourite lakes this summer as part of the second annual National Lake Blitz.
A new program is underway in Greater Sudbury, encouraging people to be aware of where fire hydrants are in their neighbourhoods and whether they can be accessed. The Hydrant Hero program asks volunteers to make sure hydrants are free from snow and ice in their neighbourhood. Participants can send a photo to the city, suggest a name for a new city mascot and potentially win a prize. Public safety officer with Greater Sudbury Fire Services, Jimmy Kolar, said city crews work to keep the more than 5,800 hydrants clear during the winter.
The statement said firefighters, police and community members acted quickly to try to help but the house was already engulfed in flames. Only one water truck was available to feed the fire truck, according to the statement, along with a lack of adequate water lines and infrastructure preventing the use of fire hydrants. "Our volunteers did all they could do with what they had," Chief Delores Kakegamic said in a statement. "We should have the same level of support as anyone else in Canada. Lives are at stake." The Office of the Fire Marshal, along with the Ontario Coroner's Office and Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, are investigating the fire. Sandy Lake is roughly 600 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay.
Florian Lemphers is unpacking his moving boxes at the same time as his Christmas gifts this year. Lemphers, his wife Andrea and their two dogs, canoed out of their front yard in Shallow Bay, Yukon, on July 13, after water from the usually-distant bay breached the berm set up to protect their home. Volunteers came from all over the territory to set up sandbags to try to keep the water at bay — but still, they were forced to leave and stay out for months.
David Gabriel knows his beloved Baille Ard forest dodged a bullet when last week’s storm damaged, but didn’t destroy the south end Sydney trail system. “It’s saddening, but it’s not horrific,” said Gabriel, the frontman of the Baille Ard Recreation Association. “It’s not like we haven’t been through this before and won’t go through it again. We have our smallish group of volunteers, and we’re looking for a few more to help out, and we have some equipment, so given enough decent days we can patch it up before winter so people can continue to enjoy the trail.”
The City of Iqaluit, Canada is hiring temporary workers to help with water distribution as its water emergency enters its seventh week, according to Nunatsiaq News. The city’s water emergency began in October, when people began complaining of a fuel-like smell in their tap water. On 12 October, the city reported fuel, later confirmed to be diesel fuel, had contaminated its water treatment plant. The city and Government of Nunavut declared states of emergency later that day that are still in effect. Volunteers played a significant role in water distribution earlier during the emergency, but support has since waned.
In the days following the catastrophic flooding in the southern part of B.C., including Abbotsford, receding water left behind a trail of garbage and debris in its path. Now, community volunteers are gathering to help with the cleanup. "We weren't affected for our house, but we want to help the community as much as we can," said Melissa Lippmann, who brought her husband and daughter to help pick up trash and litter at a blueberry farm in the area.
When Craig Purchase visited his normal fishing spot upstream of Terra Nova Lake this past Labour Day weekend, it was clear why angling was off the table. "Where it would normally be waist deep, there was two to three inches of water," Purchase, who's also a professor of biology at Memorial University, said. Bare rocks and trickling brooks have been a common sight through a swath of central Newfoundland this summer, Purchase said.
The front lawn at Habitat for Humanity in Thunder Bay, Ont., is smaller thanks to the work of some volunteers, to build a new rain garden. The garden, measuring about four metres by three metres, will help absorb water running off of the roof of the group's office and ReStore in the city. The rain garden was created with the work of volunteers on Wednesday morning. "It's one of many different techniques that you can use in an urban watershed to manage storm water runoff," said Julia Prinselaar, a program coordinator with EcoSuperior.
A non-profit group is working with a First Nation community in northeastern Ontario to become citizen scientists. Swim Drink Fish, with funding from Environment Canada, is continuing to set up citizen science water monitoring hubs. The group is now working with Zhiibaahaasing First Nation, located at the western end of Manitoulin Island on the northshore of Lake Huron. "We're trying to build a community of people around the Great Lakes who are working for swimmable, drinkable and fishable water," Mark Mattson, president of Swim Drink Fish said.
Dozens of people in the Township of Whitewater Region have been forced from their homes as water levels on the Ottawa River peaked this weekend. The Renfrew County, Ont., township is about 140 kilometres northwest of downtown Ottawa, and includes nearly 90 kilometres of shoreline. About 100 homes have been affected by flooding, Mayor Michael Moore said Sunday.
